153: The Impact of Return 2

To the south of the Empire, mountains stretched endlessly, like a coiled Dragon.

The mountains were shrouded in mist, with waterfalls and flowing springs; it was originally a place rarely visited by humans, but now a magnificent complex of buildings had been erected there, looking completely out of place with the surrounding primitive scenery.

This was the location of the headquarters of the "Nightmare Immortal Cult," a name for an emerging sect that the Empire hated intensely, yet dared not take action against at all.

To say it was emerging was because this sect had risen in just a few short decades.

To say it was ancient was because its teachings had a long history, originating from the same source as the deity worshipped by the Empire.

The root of this contradiction still had to be traced back to Blade Claw's seclusion back then.

At that time, the Empire was at its zenith; although there were occasional disturbances, its powerful essence remained unchanged, but no one expected that Blade Claw would suddenly announce seclusion, casting the vast Empire aside.

Without a leader, the Empire was suddenly in chaos.

Various factions were stirring, rebellions broke out everywhere, and the smoke of war filled the air.

At this critical moment, the Empire's High Priest Jonnison made a world-shaking decision—he severed ties with the Empire!

Once this news came out, the whole nation was in an uproar.

One must know that Jonnison was one of the two pillars of the Empire's theocracy, with a status second only to Blade Claw.

His betrayal was undoubtedly the heaviest blow to the Empire.

What was even more shocking was that Jonnison was not alone.

Relying on the prestige he had accumulated over the years, as well as his position in the hearts of the Believers, he managed to forcefully pull away a large group of Believers from the Empire.

These Believers were the most devout people toward the deity.

They firmly believed that Jonnison was the true spokesperson of the deity, and that the Empire had long since deviated from the deity's will.

Thus, under Jonnison's leadership, this group of fanatical Believers left the Imperial Capital in a grand procession, traveled south, and finally arrived in this uninhabited mountain range.

They cleared thorns and thistles, carved through mountains and rocks, and managed to establish a "Holy Land" of their own in these towering mountains.

Then one day, Jonnison suddenly told the Believers that he had received a divine revelation, and the deity had told him its true name.

Consequently, he naturally established the Nightmare Immortal Cult and crowned himself Pope.

Then he sent the Believers out to spread the word everywhere; the Empire desperately wanted to annihilate this traitor, but unfortunately, Jonnison had brought out the deity to endorse him.

In a theocratic country like the Empire, without Blade Claw coming out to refute the rumors, the Empire really dared not act; after all, in the current modern situation, those who were still willing to accept the Empire's rule could basically be said to strongly identify with the deity.

If they dared to attack the Nightmare Immortal Cult, it was likely that the Empire itself would collapse before they even made a move.

At this time, another thing happened: the spiritual leader of the rebels, the Enlightener, didn't know what kind of madness had taken hold of him, but he directly stopped all actions against the Empire.

He led a large number of troops and began a life-and-death struggle with the Nightmare Immortal Cult.

Later, the High Priest and the Enlightener even appeared directly on the battlefield and fought fiercely.

After the battle, the two conducted a secret negotiation.

No one knew what they talked about, only that from then on, there were no more large-scale conflicts between the Nightmare Immortal Cult and the Enlightener.

But the impact of this battle was extremely far-reaching.

However, at the same time, because of that battle, the world truly realized how terrifying the Enlightener, who was thought to be a vase, and the High Priest, who was thought to be a mascot, actually were.

They were definitely two terrifying existences not inferior to Blade Claw.

Returning to the main topic, after Jonnison learned the news about Blade Claw, he knew his trouble had arrived.

Although, under his brainwashing over these years, most of the Nightmare Immortal Cult's Believers no longer recognized Blade Claw's status, the Empire's side was different.

If Blade Claw were to label his sect as heretical, that would be fun; it is well known that devout religious people might not have much combat power when fighting ordinary people.

But when judging heretics, every single one of them is a god of war.

As for why he didn't label the Empire as heretical, that was purely because there were currently too few of the younger generation in the sect.

If Blade Claw had come out of seclusion a few decades later, he would have been confident enough to turn the world upside down.

Unfortunately, reality did not follow his wishes, and he had to think carefully about how to handle the trouble he would face later.

In the village, Kleid looked at the intelligence just brought back by the little guy who had gone out, and knew that Jonnison was in big trouble now.

However, he didn't have any thoughts of wanting to help; he was just hoping for Jonnison to suffer great misfortune, and then he could go up and stomp on him twice.

To let that guy know that the Pope of the Nightmare Immortal Cult could only be him.

But for now, he also had to consider whether it was time to move.

The Empire's territory had shrunk significantly, and the existing territory had not been incited, so the probability of rebellion in the future was not high.

Furthermore, his true power base was not here, and there was not much reason to stay here.

But there was one more thing worth worrying about, and that was that he had a bit too many power bases, and he couldn't decide where to go for the time being.

This is the trouble of having too much "real estate."

Just as he was troubled, a villager ran up to him excitedly and told him that Rock Stele was back.

Kleid temporarily put this matter behind him, prepared to meet Rock Stele, and see what was going on with his return this time.

Soon, the two met in a courtyard.

"Enlightener," Rock Stele saluted respectfully.

Kleid raised his head, looked at Rock Stele with a calm gaze, and nodded slightly: "You're back."

Rock Stele walked to Kleid's side, hesitated for a moment, and still couldn't help but ask tentatively: "Sir, what is your view... on the current situation?"

Kleid put down the book in his hand and looked into the distance, as if penetrating layers of obstacles to see further.

"A storm is coming," Kleid said indifferently.

Rock Stele was stunned, looking at Kleid with a confused face, hoping to get clearer instructions.

Kleid didn't say anything more, just closed his eyes to rest.

He knew very well what Rock Stele really wanted to ask.

But he absolutely could not answer.

And since this guy threw out a question to probe, he might as well use this opportunity to tell this kid his attitude.

Seeing Kleid's attitude, Rock Stele knew that his goal might not be achieved, but he still wanted to try.

"Enlightener..."

The question was interrupted as soon as it was uttered.

"Rock Stele, are you sure you want to know?"

After a moment of silence, Rock Stele knelt down, kowtowed heavily, then bowed, and left.

After arriving at the village entrance, he knelt down again, kowtowed heavily, and said softly: "Father, Teacher, Enlightener, your child, student, and follower is here to pay his respects to you for the last time. Thank you for your care all along; your kindness to Rock Stele will never be forgotten."

After speaking, he turned and left, never looking back again.